Reserve pull rod for scuba tank

ABSTRACT

The specification discloses a reserve pull rod which eliminates the possibility of accidental release.

United States Patent [191 Schuler [11] 3,826,468 July 30, 1974 RESERVE PULL ROD FOR SCUBA TANK [76] Inventor: Manfred Schuler, 4100 Patrice Rd.,

Newport Beach, Calif. 92660 [22] Filed: Mar. 26, 1973 [21] App]. N0.: 345,187

[52] US. Cl. 251/293 [51] Int. Cl. Fl6k 35/00 [58] Field of Search 251/293, 291, 294;

Primary Examiner-Alan Cohan Assistant Examiner-Ira S. Lazarus [57] ABSTRACT The specification discloses a reserve pull rod which eliminates the possibility of accidental release.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDJMOW 3.826.468

#00? her) 1 RESERVE PULL ROD FOR SCUBA TANK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional scuba valves are designed to provide a reserve quantity of air for reaching the surface after the diver has been warned that his air supply is nearly exhausted. In most prior art systems, the warning is provided by a spring biased poppet valve located in the air path between the air tank and the regulator. As long as the pressure in the tank is greater than the spring force, the valve remains open allowing air to pass from the tank to the regulator. When the pressure in the tank drops below some predetermined value (typically 300 lbs/m the spring force will exceed the force of the air pressure, causing the valve to close so as to cut off air to the regulator. When the diver senses this fact, he can open the poppet valve by tugging on the reserve pull rod. The remaining quantity of air in the tank is then available to the diver.

Reference is made to US. Pat. No. 3,701,363 entitled Scuba Valve" by Manfred Schuler, which shows and describes a typical prior art reserve pull rod. Because of the location of the rod relative to tank and the orientation and shape of the handle, prior art pull rods are particularly susceptahle to snagging or kelp or catching on rocks and other obstacles as the diver moves about. In prior art devices of the type described, a snag or bump could cause the valve to leak, thus decreasing the amount of reserve. In some cases, however, the poppet valve has, unbeknown to the diver, been totally tripped to the open position as a result of such accidental snagging. When the diver discovers he needs his reserve, he has none. What isactually desired is a reserve pull rod which will obviate such consequences.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved reserve pull rod.

A further object of the invention is to provide a reserve pull rod which will not snag or catch on objects which it contacts.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a reserve pull rod which is easily accessible to the diver.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be obvious from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment given herein below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The aforementioned objects are realized by the present invention which comprises a reserve pull rod formed from a single piece of steel wire which is bent to form a handle loop having a plane which is slightly inclined with respect to the vertical when the diver is standing upright.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a typical scuba tank assembly utilizing a prior art reserve pull rod.

FIG. 2a shows a side view of the improved pull rod.

FIG. 2b shows a plan view of the loop which forms the handle.

FIG. 3 shows how the improved pull rod would appear when attached to the scuba tank assembly shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a typical scuba assembly utilizing a prior art reserve pull rod 1. The rod 1 is formed from a single piece of 3/ l 6 inch steel rod which is bent at the sections indicated at 2 and 3 so as to properly connect with the valve assembly 4. The lower portion of the rod is bent in a loop 5 which forms the handle. The plane of the handle loop is vertical. Consequently, the loop 5 tends to snag on kelp and other objects when the diver is moving in the direction of arrow 10. Furthermore, the top of theloop 6 forms a protruding shoulder which tends to catch on rocks when the diver moves in the direction of the arrow 11. Since these two directions of movement occur when the diver moves upright or swims forward, the disadvantages of prior art pull rods will be readily apparent.

Referring now to FIGS. 2a, 2b and 3, a preferred embodiment of an improved pull rod comprises a 3/16 inch rod which is bent to form an enlongated handle loop 13 having a plane which is parallel to the direction indicated by arrow 10, but inclined at an angle of approximately 20 with respect to the vertical arrow 11. As a consequence, both of the shortcomings of the prior art pull rod are eliminated, i.e., there is no protruding shoulder 6, and the orientation and shape of the loop is such as to substantially reduce the chances of catching on kelp, rocks and other plant life.

The upperportion of the rod is essentially identical to the prior art rod. Although the rod is preferrably made of stainless or galvanized steel, it is possible that other materials could be used. For example, it could also be made of a durable plastic formed by injection molding.

While the dimensions and shape of the loop are not critical, they have been included to indicate what is considered as being the best mode. Thus, although a preferred embodiment has been shown and described, it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, and the numerous changes, modifications and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A reserve pull rod for a cylindrical shaped Scuba Tank comprising:

a straight center section;

a handle comprising a tear shaped loop;

means for connecting said handle to one end of said center section so that the plane of said tear shaped loop is oriented at an angle of greater than 10, and less than 30 with respect to the axis of said center section;

means for connecting the opposite end of said rod to a Scuba Tank valve so as to orient the straight center section adjacent to the surface of said Scuba Tank and parallel to the cylindrical axis of said Scuba Tank and to .orient the tear shaped loop of said handle to extend outwardly from the surface of said Scuba Tank. 

1. A reserve pull rod for a cylindrical shaped Scuba Tank comprising: a straight center section; a handle comprising a tear shaped loop; means for connecting said handle to one end of said center section so that the plane of said tear shaped loop is oriented at an angle of greater than 10*, and less than 30* with respect to the axis of said center section; means for connecting the opposite end of said rod to a Scuba Tank valve so as to orient the straight center section adjacent to the surface of said Scuba Tank and parallel to the cylindrical axis of said Scuba Tank and to orient the tear shaped loop of said handle to extend outwardly from the surface of said Scuba Tank. 